Re: Cephas

On Sat, 3 Dec 1994 Dvdmoore@aol.com wrote:
> gdoudna@ednet1.osl.or.gov (Greg Doudna) wrote:
>
> >I would add a comment to Larry and others: if we didn't have
> >John 1, there would be no direct NT evidence indicating an
> >identity, apart from the indirect argument that the names
> >Cephas and Peter have similar meanings and in certain ways
> >the two figures appear to correspond in roles. As for the
> >meaning of the names being the same, this argument would
> >hold greater weight, it seems to me, if other instances
> >could be cited in the ancient world in which names were
> >translated in meaning across languages. I don't know that
> >such instances don't exist; I just am not aware of any in
> >the case of names. (Counterevidence welcome.)
>
> One bit of couterevidence comes to mind right away. Take the following
> from Pausanias, for instance, where he says of the name-title of the Roman
> emperor TO DE ONOMA EINAI TOUTW *AUGOUSTOS, O( KATA GLWSSAN DUNATAI THN
> *E(LLHNWN SEBASTOS (from BAGD, s.v. SEBASTOS). Cf. Lu. 2:1; Acts 25:21,25;
> 27:1. The Luke reference shows that the transliteration of the Latin of the
> emperor's name-title could also be used in Greek (See BAGD, s.v. *AUGOUSTOS).
> Oskar Cullmann has suggested (supposedly in reference to the translation of
> *KHFAS to *PETROS in Jn. 1:42), that "the fact of translation supports the
> contention that Cephas was not a proper name, since one does not translate
> proper names" (_TDNT_, s.v. *PETROS, *KHFAS, VI:101). It might be that "Peter
> /Cephas", in analogy to the example above, should not be seen simply as a
> proper name, but as a name-title.
David's post here reminds me that there was no comment on the question I
raised a few days ago when the equation of (K)ALPHAIOS and KHPHAS was
first brought up: will the vowel equivalence suggested between the A of
(K)ALPHAIOS and the H (pronounced "ee") of KHPHAS really float? I can't
answer that question but it would seem to me be a problem. Can anyone
offer any advice on this question?
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
(314) 935-4018
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cwc@oui.com